Monday, February 11, 2013

Who would have guessed that one of the most warmongering presidents would be a liberal Democrat who wasawardedthe 2009 Nobel Peace Prize? Obama has gotten away with a secret escalating drone war because the left and their fifth column in the media have mostly turned a blind eye, just like they have with Obama's expanded ground war in Afghanistan, not wanting to criticize a fellow leftist in power. Obama is not the pacifist he pretends to be. The executive branch's escalating drone strike program has been taking place in secret now for over 10 years, all ostensibly justified by a war on terror that began on 9/11.The problem lies not so much in using drones, which avoids the casualties of using U.S. troops, but the lack of any checks and balances on the executive branch. Oliver North made daily headlines and was forced to resign under President Reagan because of the executive branch's unilateral foreign policy of selling arms to Iran and sending the proceeds to Nicaraguan contras. Obama is not facing the same kind of scrutiny. Sadly, even many Republicans in Congress are giving him a free pass. Liberal Republican Lindsey Graham, whose rating from the American Conservative Union in 2011 was only a 75, seems to haveno problemwith the executive branch unilaterally bypassing Congress.
The Obama administration claims that the September 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force Act gives the president the power to use “all necessary and appropriate force” against enemies connected to the 9/11 attacks. Yet Obama no longer uses the phrase “war on terror.” Is there an indefinite war that began with 9/11 or not? Obama wants the American public to think there is no longer a war on terror; meanwhile, he secretly continues and expands it. Congress is granted the power by the U.S. Constitution to declare war. If we are not at war, then there needs to be checks and balances between the two branches to conduct foreign policy.